Chicago Bears: Fans should take offseason in stride
It’s a long offseason and Chicago Bears fans should do their best to take it in stride.
The NFL offseason can seem painfully long, and even longer for Chicago Bears fans who have not experienced many playoff appearances in the past decade. This offseason is no different, as the Bears once again will not be playing in January, and so fans must wait eight excruciating months before they see their beloved, on the field, playing a meaningful game again.
The length of the offseason is probably what contributes to some of the overreacting to every piece of news or even a lack of news about your favorite team. As a result, there is a tendency to overanalyze everything.
In the coming months, you will read articles suggesting a player might be a good fit for the Bears. You may even hear about an “unnamed industry source” linking said player to the Bears. You will also come to know intimately about a quarterback’s hand size, a tight end’s height, a wide receiver’s performance in the cone drill, or how many bench press repetitions an offensive lineman performed.
As you take in the plethora of information, try to take it all in stride. Try also to understand that each piece of information is only one piece to a very large puzzle constructed over many months. And while it can sometimes be fun to agonize over every detail, try not to get too spun up over them.
Leading up to the draft, a team is going to “meet with” just about every realistic option in one form or another. As you know, free agency occurs before the NFL Draft and can have a substantial impact on a team’s draft plans. However, by that time, it’s too late to go back and redo your draft preparations so teams will conduct their due diligence on every player they can before April’s draft.
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So don’t get discouraged. Don’t pour your heart and soul into every rumor, report, or speculative tweet with the eye emojis. It’s just not worth it. It’s a very long offseason and you don’t want to burn yourself out before Week 1. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to writing this piece on why my previously top-rated outside linebacker has now dropped to ninth because he’s rumored to put ketchup on his hot dogs.